CofC wants firm plans on Market District

Chang, left, and Knight

A MEETING is being sought by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce with K.D. Knight, Minister of National Security, and Arnold Bertram, Minister of Local Government, to finalise plans for setting up a Market District and prescribed vending areas in Kingston.

In a letter to both ministers on August 24, Anthony Chang, president of the CofC, reminded them that it was the fourth week of August "and to date no firm plans have been made for the implementation of the Market District and prescribed vending areas as per our earlier meetings."

The chamber said that as outlined to both Mr Knight and Mr Bertram, the leadership of the KSAC and the police force, it was critical that the implementation of the Market District, the associated relocation of vending and the move to implement Phase 1 of the Inner-City Renewal Project go smoothly and without problems. Careful planning on the part of the police, the KSAC and MPM in arriving at a co-ordinated and organised plan was of paramount importance.

"In order to achieve this we are urgently requesting a meeting of both ministers and your relevant agencies to finalise all plans for implementation the week of September 10, 2001 as agreed to by all parties in June 2001. In addition, it is critical that all parties involved, the vendors, the business community, the general public, MPM, KSAC and the police be fully briefed well in advance of September 10, 2001 in order to allow for full transparency and co-operation by all", the CofC said.

It said failure to meet this deadline "would result in the most unfortunate loss of an opportunity to turn the tide of decay and lawlessness, which now engulfs Down-town Kingston. In addition failure to implement this plan will totally erase the framework for co-operation which now exists between the business community and Central and Local Govern-ment".

The chamber pleaded with the ministers to "act now to rescue this process" which had taken 21 months of negotiating and planning. It said that leadership was never easy "but never before had leadership been needed more than it now is downtown."

Store operators told The Sunday Gleaner yesterday that the situation in some streets of Downtown King-ston was so bad that it was impossible for them to take delivery of goods in the day -- the delivery trucks had to come at night instead.

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